This invention is a dental teaching toy for children. In particular, the present invention is a teaching toy to educate children in dental hygiene and to prepare children for their first visits to a dentist so that they will have a more clear and comfortable understanding of what to expect in a dental examination.
Earlier toys have been disclosed, however, they do not have the structural features that can enable children to learn about and observe the growth of adult teeth and replacement of baby teeth. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,221,060 discloses a doll's head having teeth and U.S. Pat. No. 4,231,181 discloses a toy having a simulated jaw and tooth retaining means for a single set of teeth. The present invention is designed to provide a toy that simulates the gums and teeth, both baby and adult teeth, of a child in a way that is more accurate and complete than prior toys, thereby allowing children to learn about their teeth and dental care in a more accurate and complete way.
Parents and dental professionals are frequently faced with the problems of educating young children about dental hygiene and preparing children for their first visits to a dental professional. In particular, parents have long been faced with the problem of not having a suitable toy that they can use to teach their children about dental care. These problems can give rise to and/or increase the fears and anxieties of parents in not being able to educate and/or care for their children.
Because of these problems, many children do not have a clear and comfortable understanding of how to care for their teeth and/or may be nervous or frightened about dental examinations. These problems may also lead to parental anxiety. In addition, some children do not learn about how to properly care for their teeth, thereby leading to tooth decay and/or gum disease. This can, in turn, result in parental guilt. Moreover, some children never overcome their dental neuroses, even when they grow older and become adolescents and adults. With these problems in mind, the present invention was conceived and designed.
An objective of the present invention is to provide a dental teaching toy or model that can be used to educate children about their teeth and gums in general, as well as educate children about the replacement of primary (i.e. "baby") teeth with permanent (i.e. "adult") teeth. Using the present invention, a child will be able to observe how the top and bottom teeth mesh and line up and compare their own mouth to the model. The child can use the present invention to learn about mouth and dental structures, such as baby and adult teeth, tooth structure, tooth alignment, and proper occlusion, i.e. bite.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a dental teaching toy that can be used to teach a child about dental hygiene. A more specific objective of the invention is to provide a child with a toy that the child can play with and practice the brushing and flossing of teeth and gums.
A further objective is to provide a dental teaching toy that can be used to teach a child about what to expect at a visit to the dentist. Still further, the toy of the present invention can be used by a child as a toy to simulate work carried out by dental professionals, thereby allowing the child to become familiar with the dental examination before the actual examination takes place.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide an educational toy for children that shows a mouth that is aesthetically pleasing to look at, easy and safe for children to play with, and relatively inexpensive to make.
The foregoing objectives, features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description when read in conjunction with the accompanying illustrative drawings.